Exhausted!

I think it's time for an update on how I'm getting along at my new school. A couple of images have come to mind and have been bumping around my head.

I'm not a very strong swimmer. When I try to do laps at the pool, I can get through a few, but I struggle to pace myself. I seem to think that the only way I'll stay afloat is if I keep moving. So, I go through a few somewhat frantic laps and then pause for a break before going at it all again! That's how I'm feeling about school at the moment. My weekdays are frantic as I try to do it all, swallow a little water, and finally make it to the end. I take a quick breath over the weekend, and then it's go, go, go again.

Another image that I can't get away from is that of a jigsaw puzzle. It feels a little like I am faced with a 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle. At a quick glance I can see a few pieces that look familiar, but I can't see how they will all piece together. As I'm going along, I am starting to see more and more familiar pieces, and as I clip them together, things are starting to make more sense. Every now and then I get a new piece of information, and know it connects with something else I've seen or read, but then I have to remember what that was and link it up.

I'm finding it both challenging and rewarding. I'm aware that it is a lot of hard work at the moment, but at the same time, I know that a puzzle always gets much easier once you near the end, as does swimming with practice and training!

Tech Tips Tuesday

Seating Arrangements and Groupings with iDoceo

This week I am sharing another tip for working with iDoceo for iPad. As I set up my new classroom, I have been considering different arrangements for my class seating chart, as well as student groupings for different tasks in Maths and English. iDoceo gives you five different arrangements per class. To select the arrangements, click on the icon I have boxed in red below.

iDoceo main tool bar

Seating Arrangements
The first arrangement I set up was the class seating plan. While in at the school, I set out my desks for optimum use of the interactive whiteboard. I could have taken a photo of this arrangement to use in iDoceo, but instead I made a quick sketch on a scrap of paper and then took a photo of this sketch. I added this image to my iDoceo folder in Dropbox so that I could import it into my background selections using the Settings icon on the tool bar (boxed in purple). I was then able to move my students around on my background to experiment with different arrangements.

Quick sketch of desk arrangement

iDoceo seating arrangement tool bar

Using data to help with sorting
I entered student data regarding reading levels and Maths and English bands based on information provided by the previous teacher. This information can then be used while sorting students into groups and is displayed as a coloured bubble alongside the student's name and image.

I used reading level information to help ensure that each table grouping had a mix of reading levels, with the opportunity for students to support one another for reading and writing tasks. As my second arrangement, I paired students with a reading buddy of different ability. I plan to use these pairings as an alternative to 'silent reading' after the lunch or recess break.

I used Maths bands to sort students into two groupings for Maths - one ability based groups, and one mixed-ability groups. These are my third and fourth arrangements. To label each arrangement, you enter its description in the settings.

Just for fun, there is also an option to group students randomly in the settings (boxed in purple), or to select a student at random by clicking on the dice (boxed in green above).

Things to watch for
Only one subject area (or tab) is displayed at a time, and within that you select one criteria to be displayed. For example, to see students' Maths data, you need to have been in the Maths tab prior to selecting the arrangement tool. Click on the icon boxed above in red to select the information to be displayed. Return to the data entry page to change tabs, and thus access different information. To cancel the bubbles, simply click on the icon with the photo and an x symbol (boxed in red above).

Another trick I found was that sometimes my arrangements seemed to be saved, and other times they didn't. From what I can tell, you 'save' the previous arrangement by moving to another numbered arrangement before returning to the data entry page. (Change arrangements by tapping the numbers in the blue box above). This seems to have been working for me, at least! I have also been taking a screen shot of the data when I am happy with it so that I have a copy should anything go wrong. Screen shot can also be used as a way to is also a useful way to create more than 5 class arrangements.

What I liked
I liked that I could use this to fiddle around with the arrangements at home, and draw on the information I had in a simple and very visible way. Obviously, I wouldn't purchase iDoceo for this feature alone, but it adds to the value of what I am already finding to be a very useful classroom tool.

For previous posts about iDoceo, click here.

Tech Tips Tuesday

Starting a New School Year

When you start a new school year there are always a number of things that need to be trained into students, be it ruling margins, hanging bags on hooks or logging onto computers. Today I thought I would reflect on some of the things I do to train students with computers early in the year so that we can get stuck into the good stuff quicker.

Password cards
The students in my class tend to end up with a number of passwords they need to remember or use throughout the year. I create simple password folders for my students by folding an A6 piece of card in half and writing their name on the front. Depending on the age of the students I may get them to write their own usernames and passwords inside. As students acquire more usernames/passwords these can be added to the folder.

Student Storage
Another simple thing that students need is somewhere to store their work. I create a class folder and student folders within that. We save everything to this folder through the year so they soon become familiar with the path required to find and save their work.

Prepare for the Inevitable
Expect difficulties and teach kids to expect them. Anyone who has ever used computers with a class knows that things go wrong, and to different degrees. At the beginning of the year I have students who get upset when their writing shifts down the page because they leaned on the enter key, and the flip-side of that is those who get disheartened because they don't know how to leave a space between words or move to the next line. It takes a bit of patience - both from me and from the students.
I give them my spiel about how it will take them a long time to get anything done at the beginning. They may spend the whole lesson just logging on. But... with practice they will get better and by the end of the year they will be able to make the most of 15 minutes to get something worthwhile done on the computer. I think the key here is practice.
While tempting, I would say DON'T log on and set up everything in advance. Logging on is part of the process and students need to learn and do it. (That said, when I'm trying to manage three or more different tasks in the classroom, feeling exhausted, and am about to crack, I will take the shortcut and login for them!) I also find that before long a few students will stand out as experts and share what they know with others, taking some of the burden from me.

Start with Simple Processes
Understand and appreciate that quality content isn't the initial goal - log on, access program, and save to the right place is a good start! Print and collect print-out is another skill. Once the basics are sorted, then delve into work quality: punctuation, spell check, formatting etc. We don't expect perfection the first time a toddler puts pencil to paper, nor should we expect that of a student when starting out with an unfamiliar computer.

Multitasking
This year I have been working on multitasking when we have the laptops in the classroom. As they take some time to load up, I get students to have other work to do while they wait.

Know the resources
If no one is using them, then... practice. Last year my room was next to the computer lab so we made use of it when the other classes didn't show up for their sessions. This year the laptop storeroom is close by, so we grab them instead. I get frustrated when teachers complain about the resources saying "it would be great to do all these cool things, but we just don't have enough resources" or "our resources never work". That said, it is because of these attitudes that my students get so much extra time!

The start of the year is always hard work, but valuable. Once you establish the basics, you open the door to many more learning opportunities to experience and enjoy through the year. What additional tips do you find useful when getting students started with computers at the beginning of the school year?

Friday Fun

It's the end of Week 1, Term 1 and I am exhausted! The first week takes a lot of energy and requires a lot of extra bits and pieces to get things underway. Time is spent organising the classroom, sorting and labelling stationery, collecting assessment and talking with teachers from the previous year. We've also been trying to piece together information for our parent night, structuring our timetable and planning our programs. Given that my evenings are usually very family oriented, I have been skipping my lunch break to try to fit everything in, and hoping that somehow I'll be able to get ahead of the ball sometime soon! On a personal learning level, I have been familiarising myself with the iDoceo app for iPad and supporting other teachers as they get started with it too.

But, let's face it. The first week back is about the kids - getting to know them, meeting their parents, enthusing them about the year ahead, and stomping out the unwanted behaviours early. So... here's some of the fun stuff the kids got up to this week.

Flap Book
Students made flap books containing their teacher's name, class, something they enjoyed from the first day, something they are looking forward to and some of their friends. We planned to take these home on the first day, however they needed a little more time so took them on the second day instead. These were designed to be a prompt for students and their parents to use to discuss the first day.

Portrait
Students created a portrait of themselves depicting how they see themselves as adults. They also wrote a text to go with the image. These will be displayed in our unit on completion.

FRIENDS Values
My school has developed a values curriculum around an acronym for FRIENDS. This is taught at the beginning of each year and referred to continually. This week students were engaged in a quiz related to the values and completed a worksheet which is now displayed in the classroom.

House Meetings
Our swimming carnival is just around the corner, so today students met in house groups to select Year 6 students as their House Captains. They then practiced their war cries.

Of course there have been many other activities through the week, but some of those will form other posts I plan to write this weekend! Bring on week 2!

Please don't trample my enthusiasm!

Today was the second day back at work for we teachers, and I think that tonight I've hit the wall with the exhaustion of it all. It has been an exciting time so far, but also a bit on the frustrating side. We're all feeling very motivated and have been inspired to think of great things we would like to establish in our classrooms this year, but we haven't got far past the inspiration. And I fear that if I don't start making sense of it all and get some plans into place, the momentum of the school year will soon trample my enthusiasm.

Yesterday we spent some time looking at the Australian Curriculum and how we will use it to plan, teach, assess and report learning this year. We had a quick look at the English and Maths curriculum and considered a bit of the scope and sequence and some key concepts we plan to teach. At the end of the day I felt more confident about using the Australian Curriculum and had a better understanding of the structure - particularly in English.

Today we worked with Sylvia Guidara, who excited us about the possibilities when using online resources with students. Unfortunately when it came to trying some of these out, we came up against the typical computer issues we face in the classroom - sign-ups not working, slow wi-fi, subscription services, and ethical questions. Not to mention the challenge of exploring a new resource to determine it's usability across the school. By the end of the day I was feeling a bit frustrated and remembered why I have avoided some of these resources in the past. Hopefully with a good night's sleep and a freshened up mind, I will be ready to think through the next steps to making the most of the resources Sylvia shared.

On the brighter side, I have been very excited about the iDoceo iPad app as a Classroom Organiser for this year. At the end of last year I wrote about how I was searching for an app that would "do it all." While I am still just testing it out, this app appears to be just what I have been looking for. Once I've tested it out properly with real students, I will write a more detailed review.

And 2013 Begins

Tomorrow is the official start to the new school year for teachers at my school, however many of us were in there today, trying to get our rooms set up. I say "trying" because some teachers couldn't get into their rooms yet due to renovations, and others were overwhelmed by all the extra furniture that seemed to have been relocated for the renovations! It sounds like I'm complaining, but really I'm not. The start of a new school year is always exciting and nerve racking. You want to get everything just right for the moment when the students walk in, but that rarely happens.

I love getting my 'draft' class list and running my eye over the list - looking for siblings of kids I've taught, or checking for names of kids I know from the playground. It's fun to imagine the kids who very soon will be sitting at the desks I've just set out (but then again, will that arrangement work?!)

I pull out my brand new whiteboard markers and neatly write their names on the busy bees I have for my class jobs chart. And again on the birthday charts.

I set up the class computers and check the interactive whiteboard is ready to go. I put in my request for any spare computers that might become available.

This is all the fuzzy fluff that I can get away with in the day I'm at school but don't have to be. And I know that tomorrow the real work begins - no more leisurely time to put up posters or to ponder why none of my students were born in January! Tomorrow the brain needs to be switched on to think about curriculum and all the nuts and bolts that keep the education machine running.

And that is why my brain is buzzing and I can't get to sleep tonight!